April 4, 2017

You know, it seems like I always have overripe bananas. Seriously, I guess I need to start buying 2 at a time. However, on that same note, I wouldn't have found my new favorite banana bread recipe if I hadn't had these overripe bananas to use up.

This bread is so stinkin good.

My daughter is always my toughest critic in the house, and she loved it! The bread was very moist, dense, and had a good dose of both banana and chocolate flavors. Perfection!My new favorite banana bread recipe!

March 23, 2017

Summer is approaching and that means you'll need your fair share of snacks to cool you down. This is one that you need to have in your refrigerator, for those hot days.

Of course fruit is good by itself but if you leave it cut up in your refrigerator for too long, it begins to turn strange colors. Especially those darn bananas. This recipe is great because it isn't covering up that great fruit flavor, but adding a hint of extra flavor. Coincidentally it's also helping to preserve that lovely color. Lime juice is good like that. And you can't go wring with honey, I mean, really.

March 15, 2017

Be warned, this makes a huge recipe! Not kidding, you can feed 15 to 20 people easily. I recently made this at a friends house and it was amazing. Even though there were 7 of us eating it felt like we didn't even make a dent in the amount this makes. Next time, I think I'll half it.

The result was amazing, however. The chowder is thick and hearty, with tons of flavor. There are big chunks of vegetables as well as shrimp. I used a medium sized shrimp we found in the freezer section. They'd already been deveined so all we had to do was peel and take their tails off. The creamy base was thick and flavorful. I was completely satisfied after my meal. We served it with French Bread and Butter, and that was all.

The most time consuming portion of the meal was the chopping and getting the shrimp ready. Not difficult, just allow time for it.

Such a hearty filling meal, and since there were so many vegetables we didn't feel it was necessary to add a side dish. It was all made in one giant pot so clean up was pretty easy. You're going to want to make this for a crowd, and hope there are still leftovers for you to savor on your own. I loved this. My husband has declared this, one of the best chowder's he's ever had.April's Corn and Shrimp Chowder

Recipe from April

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick)butter

2 wholeonions, chopped

2bell peppers, chopped

3 ribscelery, chopped

1 bunchgreen onion, diced (for garnish)

1 poundbacon, cut into small pieces

4-5 poundsshrimp, deveined and tails removed

3 canscream of corn

4 cansgold and white corn

1 canRotel tomatoes

1 bunchcarrots

4-5 poundspotatoes, cubed

1 quarthalf and half

1 pintwhipping cream

salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions

Saute the onions, bell pepper, celery and green onions in the butter until they are beginning to soften. Remove from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan add the bacon pieces and fry until they are crispy. Remove the bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel but leave the grease in the pan.

Saute the shrimp in the bacon grease and remove. If you want a little bit of spice you can sprinkle shrimp with a some old bay, slap your mama, or any other seasoning to your desired spice level.

Add all of the other ingredients (not the shrimp or the green onions) including the vegetables that were cooked and set aside and cook until the potatoes are done. You can drain the canned corn if you want a thicker chowder or leave the liquid to thin it out a bit.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp about 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with green onions.

March 4, 2017

Sorry for the delay in posting this week. We had our house painted, as well as my kitchen cabinets. So needless to say, I was out of the way for most of the week. Then I unplugged my internet and had to have my husband help me fix it. So, luckilyI'm back in business now, a week later.

So, I was going through all of my old Food Network Magazine's and I discovered I had some pages marked, so I finally got around to making these.

I'm telling you, theses are g.o.o.d. The lemon curd is nice and tart but easily gets sweetened up by the ice cream. The crust is crumbly and delicious, a good combination of sweetness with a little hint of lemon. Great recipe to have for the upcoming summer!

Lemon Ice Cream Bars

Recipe from Food Network Magazine. Jan/Feb 2014 page 64

Ingredients

6 largeegg yolks

1 cupgranulated sugar

1 cupfresh lemon juice

12 Tbspunsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 tsplemon zest

pinch of salt

cooking spray

2 5-6 oz shortbread cookies

3 Tbspunsalted butter, melted

1/2 tsplemon zest

2 pintsvanilla ice cream, softened slightly

confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Cooking Directions

Make the lemon curd first. In a saucepan, combine the egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until it begins to thicken.

Add in chunks of butter until smooth and let thicken until it covers the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat.

Strain through a fine mesh seive. Then add the lemon zest and salt and let cool.

Spray a 9x9 or 8x8 inch dish with cooking spray. Line it with aluminum foil so there is over hang on the sides, then spray again.

In a food processor, add all the cookies and pulse it until they are all crushed. Slowly add in the melted butter and and lemon zest and pulse a couple more times.

Press the cookie mixture into the bottom of the prepared dish, use your hands to make it even and press down firmly.

Press the lightly softened ice cream on top of the cookie crust. Press down and even out the top as much as possible.

Pour the lemon curd over the top and smooth out. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the top and place in freezer for a minimum of 4 hours.

When ready to serve, grab the ends of the aluminum foil and lift out of dish. Cut into squares and serve.

February 22, 2017

If you've ever spent any time in New England, you might have had a Hermit. These are chewy, spiced cookies with big plump raisins that remind you of the holidays. Hermits can be found in New England at any time of year, they are favorites there.

When I married my husband and went to visit New England for the first time, I was quickly introduced to these, as well as other New England favorites.

They've quickly become favorites of mine. My husband already loved them and now our daughter does too.

I've discovered that these cookies can be made in three basic shapes. The regular cookie, the bar cookie and the long thick rope shape that is then cut into half moon slices. All are good, trust me.

In my research I discovered that Hermits were added to a local cookbook from the Trinity Church out of New York called Champlain Valley Book of Recipes, where this recipe was called Miss Perloa's Hermits in 1880. Miss Perloa had a cookbook called "Appledore Cook Book" in which she had some cookie type recipes but none were labeled as a "cookie". That same year another cookbook was published with her recipe for Hermits called "Miss Perloa's New Cook Book".

Since the time of the original recipe, it's been revised countless times. I personally have never come up with my own version of this recipe but I'm glad I get to experience other people's masterpieces. I loved this recipe by The Lemon Bowl. Nice and chewy, tons of flavor and lots of raisins. Delicious!

February 13, 2017

So, there I was, munching away on dried apricots, when it hit me! The flavors for my next cookie! Chocolate and apricot are a match made in heaven. So is orange and chocolate. So why not incorporate them into a delicious chewy cookies with little chewy chunks of goodness.

The base of this recipe came from Pinterest. I knew I wanted this to be a chewy cookie. I also knew that I'd be using chocolate chips, so the base of this cookie is a yummy chocolate chip cookie that I found and have made once before. Then it was just a matter of adding in the other flavors I wanted.

I was able to control myself long enough to wait until they cooled out of the oven. This is needed in order to achieve optimal chewiness. Mission accomplished! Perfectly chewy, large, full of flavor. The orange flavor is not too strong but pairs well with the apricots and the chocolate chips. The small chunks of apricots are a wonderful addition. I'm in love with this cookie.